No Pressure
Recap The episode starts with Future Ted telling his kids about the first time he told their mother that he loved her. He says that it was a big deal for him since he hadn't said it to a girl since Robin. The episode then flashes back to where the previous one ended. Ted reveals to Robin that he really loves her. He says that they broke up in the first place because they had different views of where they saw themselves in five years. It's five years later and they are standing on the roof where they kissed each other for the first time. He then leaves, giving Robin some time to think about it. Back in his room, Ted thinks of a way to fix what he said to Robin. As he is about to leave to talk to her, he finds her outside his room, and she kisses him. She then breaks the kiss and tells him that they need to talk about this. She says that she's been through a day of emotional mayhem, with Kevin and now Ted. Just then Robin's co-worker, Patrice shows up at the apartment, and reminds her about their trip to Russia, to which Robin got the time wrong. She packs hurriedly with Ted and leaves. She then comes back and kisses Ted, stating that they will continue this when she gets back. Ted then calls Marshall at seven in the morning and tells him to meet him at MacLaren's. Lily tells him not to go and that Ted should know his limits, when she finds Barney in their bed. He tells them that he rode the drunk train last night, and he got stuck here. Marshall then leaves, and Barney then grosses Lily out talking about them hooking up. Lily then leaves and tells Barney not to go through their stuff, looking for a sex tape, which doesn't exist. However, Barney believes that such a tape exists, and hires some cleaning woman to look for it. Back at the bar, Ted tells Marshall everything, and Marshall says that he is not shocked about hearing this. When Lily shows up at the bar, she shows her disappointment about Ted going for Robin again. She tells Ted that he might be ready for this, but maybe Robin isn't. He asks Lily why she is rooting against him, and she denies this. Back at Marshall and Lily's house, Barney finds a box containing details about some long term bets which Lily and Marshall had been making, and finds that Lily bet Marshall that Ted and Robin won't end up together, and was in fact rooting against Ted and Robin. Lily then tells Ted to make grand romantic gestures for Robin (which would freak Robin out, resulting in Lily winning the bet). Barney then shows up at the bar with the box full of Lily and Marshall's bets. He then finds out that they in fact have a sex tape, and Marshall bet Lily that Barney would never see it. When Barney goes looking for the tape, Ted reads the bet about him and Robin. Lily then tells Ted that the only reason she made that bet was because she didn't think Robin is the girl that Ted is destined to marry. She tells him that in five years, he hasn't settled with Robin and there must be a reason for that. Ted realizes that Barney is that "reason". When Barney shows up at The apartment with Marshall and Lily's sex tape, Ted confronts Barney saying that Robin is in love with him, and something happened between them, which resulted in Barney and Nora's breakup, that night when he saw him in Robin's room with candles and rose petals. Barney then tells Ted everything that happened, and that Robin picked Kevin because she loves him. When Ted tells Barney that Kevin and Robin broke up last night, he shows his indifference to this. Barney resorts to the Bro Code, specifically the rule of "Bros before Hoes". Robin is his bro, he wants her to be happy, and he knows she won't be happy with him. So he doesn't care that Robin is single, and wouldn't even care if she started dating someone else, even if that person was Ted. Ted then tells Barney that he has really grown up. Just when Barney is about to watch the sex tape, Marshall and Lily show up. Although Lily wants him to see it to win the bet, Marshall grosses him out and Barney ends up destroying the tape. When Robin comes back, Ted picks her up at the airport, takes her to the restaurant with the Blue French Horn, and by the end of the night he realizes that it's not going to happen between him and Robin. Robin tells him that she does not want to mess up their friendship. She then asks if they still have their "forty-deal", but Ted says that he can't do that as he doesn't want to leave any hope of them ending up together. He asks her if she loves him and she says no. Ted then asks her to forget everything that happened. Ted then calls Marshall at the bar, and tells him that he is happy about what happened. Marshall then goes to Robin, and tells her that Ted is lying about him being okay, and that Robin has to move out, which she does. Future Ted then tells his kids that he was happy in his own crazy way about what happened and for the first time in years there was no part of him clinging to the dream of him and Robin being together, which meant that the world was wide open for him. A dozen of women with yellow umbrellas are then shown walking on the side walk in front of Ted. The episode ends with Lily and Marshall in bed, with Lily saying Marshall should pay up because of their earlier bet that Ted and Robin won't end up together. Marshall refuses to pay by simply saying, "Not yet." Continuity *The movie that Ted and the mother couldn't see because it was sold out is Wedding Bride III, a possible sequel to The Wedding Bride. *Marshall talks about the Christmas lights that Ted sets up for Robin in . *Barney and Ted talk about the events of and . *Barney mentions The Drunk Train from the previous episode. *Marshall and Lily talk about the time that Ted was left at the altar in . *Various elements of Ted and Robin's on-and-off relationship throughout Seasons 1 and 2, are flashed back to. Including the restaurant that Robin and Ted stole the Blue French Horn (this time secured with a chain and lock), shown in , , and . And the fight first alluded to in . *When Barney goes to The apartment after finding the Sex Tape, the bottom of the screen says "46 Minutes Later..." alluding to the fact that it takes 46 minutes to get to Marshall and Lily's House in the suburbs, first said in . *Ted and Robin's agreement to get married at forty if they are both single is first referenced in . Gallery No pressure1.jpg No Pressure Barney.jpg 0000ch5q.jpg 0000b7xg.jpg 00009egy.jpg S640x480.jpg 000051ht.jpg No pressure.jpg himym-3.jpg himym-4.jpg Patrice.gif 101398 D0206b.jpg 101398 D0235b.jpg Ted+TheMother.jpg 101398 D0444b.jpg 101440 FOX 0794b.jpg conan-o-brien-surprise-cameo-on-how-i-met-your-mother.jpg|Conan O'Brien's Cameo No Pressure Marshall.png TedWillPullItOff.png TedWillGoBald.png No Pressure Lily.png RobinHairdryerBet.png BarneyWillDieByMurder.png No Pressure (Ted and The Mother).jpg|Ted and the mother come to watch The Wedding Bride III No Pressure Ted.png 7x17-No-Pressure 03.jpg 7x17-No-Pressure.jpg Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *When Marshall and Lily enter the apartment so they can each persuade Barney in order to win the bet regarding the sex tape, Lily has removed her coat. However, in one frame during Marshall and Lily's argument, Lily is wearing her coat again. *When Barney rushes out of the bar to go look for the sex tape, he clearly doesn't take the long-term bets box with him. In the shot where Barney finds the tape at Marshall and Lily's place, the box can be seen in the background. Allusions and Outside References *Lily attempts to make Ted go to 'Russia with love'. This is a reference to the movie . Music * - Other Notes *It's visible a box of Russian cereal that Ted it's eating as he talks with Robin. This belongs to a joke that was eliminated in the final cut of the episode. *This episode starts out with Barney at Marshall and Lily's house because he got off the Drunk Train at Long Island. Although the end of the previous episode it shows him in a cab with a girl, it is not likely that he is heading to his apartment since he is with the girl from the train that suggested he and Ted should get off at her stop. *When Barney returns from Long Island with the sex tape, the caption says '46 minutes later,' this is a reference to the episode 46 Minutes, where it is explains it takes 46 minutes to get from Long Island to New York and vice versa. Cameo appearance by Conan O'Brien *Talk show host Conan O'Brien makes a very brief cameo appearance in the episode as a non-speaking patron at MacLaren's and can be clearly be seen when Barney rushes past him on the way out of the bar. O'Brien won the role via a 2011 charity auction. According to show co-creator Carter Bays, they started to brainstorm ideas about what O'Brien could play before he replied that he just wanted to be an extra who would blend in. "We realized this was really the funniest version a cameo", said Bays. "In New York, every now and then you'll see somebody famous at a bar, but nobody really makes a big deal out of it." Guests *Ellen D. Williams - Patrice *Angela Matemotja - Consuela * - Uncredited Cameo Podcast Featuring an interview with Carter Bays and George Sloan. Reception The episode received 9.81 million viewers.http://www.spoilertv.com/2012/02/ratings-news-21st-february-2012.html Donna Bowman of the gave the episode a A-.http://www.avclub.com/articles/no-pressure,69559/ After being particularly critical of the previous episode, 's Ethan Alter gave "No Pressure" a B, stating that the Ted and Robin storyline was "mercifully brief" but criticised Lily and Marshall for breaking character.http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how-i-met-your-mother/no-pressure-1.php References External Links * * * *''No Pressure'' at CBS Press Express